The World Wide Web (also known as and hereinafter referred to as the “Internet”) is a rapidly expanding network of computers which provides users with numerous services and a wealth of information. The internet is primarily a visually based system, allowing a user to graphically interact with an image or series of images on a display screen. Users are able to locate updated information regarding weather, stock prices, news and many other topics.
Using the visual capabilities of computers and the internet, users are able to bring distant locations to them through the use of virtual reality tours. One use of such tours is in the real estate industry. Virtual reality tours are created for properties which are for sale or rent. Users interested in viewing the home can take the virtual reality tour before deciding to take the time to visit the home in person. The virtual reality tour is typically created by taking pictures or video of each room, or selected views from within or outside of the home.
Different types of virtual reality tours have been developed. An iPix™ virtual tour is created by setting a camera with an extreme fisheye lens in the middle of a room, and then rotating the lens. The end result is stitched together into a seamless image that gives the user a sense of the room in 360 degrees, also referred to as panoramic. Additionally, the tour may show a floor plan of the home with small thumbnail photographs pointing to sections of interest. The user must click on these thumbnails, which drills down to a second page with a close-up of the thumbnail and a description of the related section. The close-up must then be clicked to load the 360 degree, panoramic view. This functionality requires the user to drill down two pages to view the result. Further, there is minimal user interactivity or sense of layout or depth, and the tour usually requires a special software plug-in to be downloaded by the user.
Iseemedia™ provides a virtual reality tour similar to iPix™ with the ability to zoom in to the 360 degree rotating picture, as well as the ability to move the viewpoint up or down. Plurotech™ provides another 360 degree view and requires QuickTime™ technology, which maps two-dimensional objects to a three-dimensional grid. This yields quicker loading times and uses a more popular plug-in for the browser.
Seeitbuyit.com™ provides a slide show of rooms with start and stop capability. 360 degree view is also available, but must be downloaded separately, and is functional while using the slide show. EyeCron™ also provides a slide show presentation of photographs, which requires uploading of presentation software. Using the presentation software, users are presented with a series of photographs and music.
DeedChek.com™ provides software to create property layouts and boundaries, as well as the ability to create subdivisions of property. However, no photographs of the property are provided.
Video game 3D mapping provides users with detailed animated three-dimensional representations. Video game 3D mapping tools are quite complex and require the creation of individual objects which are then combined as building blocks to produce the 3D modeling. CAD (computer-aided design) architectural modeling typically uses a graphics tablet for drawing architectural designs. CAD systems can be quite complex, where the more complex forms of CAD used for solid modeling and parametric modeling. Neither the video game 3D mapping tools nor the CAD architectural modeling tools provide the ability to juxtapose a floor plan layout and images corresponding to specific portions of the floor plan layout. Additionally, both of these types of modeling tools may be too complex for many applications.
Blogmapper.com™ provides a conventional map and a series of dots which are placed on the map showing points of interest. When the dot is clicked, a series of photographs appear in the right hand margin of the screen. However, the map does not give the user a sense of where they are in relation to the displayed photograph. As the dot is selected, there is no change in the map to indicate a selection has been made or to correlate the selected dot with the corresponding photograph. Neither is there any indication regarding a viewer's angle of perspective, that is in what direction the viewer is looking.
Current visual reality tours do not give the user a feeling of depth from where the photographs are taking place, nor a sense of awareness of the surrounding property itself. The tours are presented as either a rotating fisheye view, or a series of photographs presented as a slide show. Many of the existing tours also require a high bandwidth connection via the internet, as well as specific plug-ins to work with the internet browser. If a user were to use a dial-up connection, download times may prove prohibitive, or at the least inconvenient.